Computer Recommendation

So I need help finding a new computer. Currently I have a laptop that I run two monitors off. I had to buy a docking station to get it to run both monitors because it didn't have the hookups. Wireless keyboard, mouse and printer as well.

System Manufacturer TOSHIBA

System Model Satellite S55-C

Processor Intel® Core™ i7-5500U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2401 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 12.0 GB

It runs very slow at times. I'm looking to replace it with a desktop tower because I believe it would run faster that way. It gets so bad it will leg when I type sometimes. I just need some guidance on this for something that isn't going to cost in a ton.

My usage is pretty typical I would think. Excel documents, word documents, PDFs, multiple internet tabs open at times.

Any thoughts computer guys?

So...one monitor for work, and another for BGP? :lol2:

So...one monitor for work, and another for BGP? :lol2:

Pretty much.

Of the recent computers that I have owned, I have been most satisfied with those made by Dell and Lenovo. I currently own a Lenovo TS140 Thinkserver, which I use as a desktop, and a Lenovo Thinkpad 13 Chromebook. The build quality and "feel" of both machines is as good as anything I have ever used. I also own a Samsung laptop, which is a piece of junk, and a low-end Toshiba laptop, which is not bad but has some issues. I have a government issue HP laptop with docks at work and home that I am not happy with, but it has so much security software loaded on it, it is hard to evaluate. I will personally never buy another HP or Samsung computer.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend installing an SSD and installing Windows and your applications on it, along with more than 8 GB of memory memory.

Of the recent computers that I have owned, I have been most satisfied with those made by Dell and Lenovo. I currently own a Lenovo TS140 Thinkserver, which I use as a desktop, and a Lenovo Thinkpad 13 Chromebook. The build quality and "feel" of both machines is as good as anything I have ever used. I also own a Samsung laptop, which is a piece of junk, and a low-end Toshiba laptop, which is not bad but has some issues. I have a government issue HP laptop with docks at work and home that I am not happy with, but it has so much security software loaded on it, it is hard to evaluate. I will personally never buy another HP or Samsung computer.

 

If you can afford it, I highly recommend installing an SSD and installing Windows and your applications on it, along with more than 8 GB of memory memory.

Wholeheartedly agree with your opinion of Samsung Laptops, although I have an HP which has served me well for 3 years now. My work computer is a Dell and runs like a dream as have my other Dell work computers, although the build quality of my newest (just got a month ago) one doesn't seem to be on par with my previous ones. My wife's work computer is a Lenovo, and it has superior build quality, and still works like a champ and is going strong after 5 years. Lenovo and Dell would be my recommendations. Personally, I would buy a laptop....desktops just take up too much space and really don't offer any performance bumps aside from more connection ports.

If you can afford it, and don't mind, and it will be compatible with your dock, get a Mac. Mine is 4 years old this month (15" MBPR) and it still rocks. I had 2 HP's die in 32 days back in grad school in 2013. Decided to go that route. I love it. Run windows on parallels if needed, and all the Microsoft Office programs work seamlessly.

If you can afford it, and don't mind, and it will be compatible with your dock, get a Mac. Mine is 4 years old this month (15" MBPR) and it still rocks. I had 2 HP's die in 32 days back in grad school in 2013. Decided to go that route. I love it. Run windows on parallels if needed, and all the Microsoft Office programs work seamlessly.

I have a mac laptop and hate it.

Would you be willing to build your own? If you do you'd be looking to save 100's of dollars doing it. You could easily build a legit running desktop for around 400 bucks if you buy the parts yourself and do it yourself.

Would you be willing to build your own? If you do you'd be looking to save 100's of dollars doing it. You could easily build a legit running desktop for around 400 bucks if you buy the parts yourself and do it yourself.

How complicated is that? What if I had issues moving forward?

I'd be willing to spend $700-$800 for the desktop if it would be faster and more efficient than what I'm running now.

How complicated is that? What if I had issues moving forward?

 

I'd be willing to spend $700-$800 for the desktop if it would be faster and more efficient than what I'm running now.

You could build a legit desktop for 800 bucks. Building a computer is like putting Legos together. Every computer piece you buy will have a warranty but it shouldn't be an issue. When I put my first computer together I followed a video on YouTube step by step. Honestly the biggest pain is getting windows set up. If you are not looking to build one I will find you something in your price range that will be solid.

You could build a legit desktop for 800 bucks. Building a computer is like putting Legos together. Every computer piece you buy will have a warranty but it shouldn't be an issue. When I put my first computer together I followed a video on YouTube step by step. Honestly the biggest pain is getting windows set up. If you are not looking to build one I will find you something in your price range that will be solid.

Whenever you have a second could you find me a link for something already built. I'm not really sure I'm capable of building it myself.

Whenever you have a second could you find me a link for something already built. I'm not really sure I'm capable of building it myself.

Yeah I'll look around a little bit later tonight when I get home and see what I can find. Do you already have monitors? Keyboard/Mouse?

Yeah I'll look around a little bit later tonight when I get home and see what I can find. Do you already have monitors? Keyboard/Mouse?

Yeah I already have all that. Just need a tower that you can hook two monitors to. I don't wanna use the docking station anymore if I don't have to.

The laptop I use for work is a Dell 5th generation i5 with 8 GB of ram. I use a docking station and 3 monitors. I run quite a bit more than your basic Office products and internet browsers. I usually have multiple remote desktops running, multiple browsers open, outlook, microsoft mail, a spreadsheet, and my trading platform. This setup is plenty fast.

My Windows home laptop is a Sony Vaio 3rd Gen i7 with 8 GB physically connected to a single external monitor as a 2nd screen. I do everything I do at work, at home.

One of my other laptops is a Toshiba 1st Gen i7 with 8 GB. I run Linux (Zorin Ubuntu interface) on that one. Again, no slowness issues.

In fact the slowest computer I have, now, is my Macbook.

If speed is your only issue, I'd hold off doing anything new at the moment. You've got plenty of pc, right now.

Sounds like you either have a hard drive going bad, an outdated driver or BIOS issue (caused by a Windows update), or some kind of software problem (corrupted file or malware).

I have had a similar problems, as you are having, with several employee work laptops and my own Vaio at home. I did all of what I am recommending below. You can do this in steps, if you wish. I'm an IT department of one, now, and it's all I can do to keep up with all of the web sites, software, and hardware issues that arise everyday (not to mention my day trading ). Therefore, I tend to "Carpet Bomb", because I am doing multiple things simultaneously and I know I've covered most of the bases after I am done.

The following comes with no warranty or guarentees ...

Backup your hard drive before doing anything.

If you are running Windows 7, 8, or 10, I'd download Steve Gould's CleanUp! 4.5.2 and run that to delete unnecessary temp files. www.stevengould.org

Then I'd run the free version of Malware Bytes. Malwarebytes | Free Cyber Security & Anti-Malware Software

Go to Toshiba's site and make sure you have their latest machine updates.

Then make sure you have the latest Windows updates.

In most cases, the above has solved the speed issues, the exception being those units that had a bad hard drive. Hard drive replacement is much simpler than building a PC from scratch, so if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.